Milk-can.



PATENTED FEB 28, 1905.

No. M35776,

0. HI CORNELL.

MILK CAN.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 7, 1904.

2 SHEETS-BEEET 2.

NITED STaTns Patented February 28, 1905.

CHARLES H. CORNELL, OF VALEN'llNl NEBltASlQ-i.

WIILK tEMM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,7?6, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed March 7, 1904:. Serial No 196,904.

To all 14/71/0121 it may concern.-

Be it known that l, Gimmes lrl. CORNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Valentine, in the county of Cherry and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'iVi'illcCans, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specilication.

My invention relates to cans or other like receptacles for storing and ship nng milk and other liquids or substances, and has :for its primary object to provide an improved collapsible can that may be readily converted into a knocked-down form when returning empty.

l Vith these ends in view my invention consists in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a Vertical sectional view of my improved can or recep-' tacle set up ready for use. Fig. 2 is a similar section showing it in its knocked-down form. Fig. 3 is a detail plan section of the neck of the can. Fig. t is a detail plan view of the bottom spider, and Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of a locking-lug.

The body of the can is composed of a series of telescopic rings 1 2 3 which are arranged one within the other and so constructed that when the smallest one is raised it will evcntually lift all the others below it and cause them to bind one within the other, so as to constitute a continuous wall and a suitable receptacle for holding liquids or other substances. lhe joints between the rings may be constituted in any well-known or suitable way; but in the exempliiication of my invention shown in the drawings such joints are constituted by the larger end of one ring coming into firm contact with the smaller end of another ring, the rings being preferably tapering a sufficient degree for this purpose, and their larger ends being arranged at the bottom, so that the can will not be to rheavy. if desired, the smaller ends of the rings may be reinforced around their outer sides by suitable bands 1, soldered or otherwise secured thereto, so that by no possibility can the pressure of the inner ring disrupt the thin sheet metal of which the rings are composed, and in order to stiffen the larger ends of the rings where they bind within the smaller ends of the outer rings the same may be reinforced around their inner sides with bands 5, which are one-half round in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 1, to avoid the collection of dirt or foreign matter without materially detracting from their rigidity. Thus it will be seen that the plain smooth surfaces of the rings come together where they are reinforced by the hands a 5.

The top ring 1 flanged inwardly at its upper end, as shown at 6, so as to lap over and form a tight joint with the SllOljlltlOl' of the can, which is constituted by a conical ring 7, having a greater attenuation than the rings 1 2 3, so that its upper end is reduced approximately to the size of the lower end of the neck of the can, which neck is shown at8 and is constituted by a ring preferably formed in one piece with a flaring mouthpiece 9 and the shoulder 7, the neck 8 itself being cylindrical throughout the greater part of its extent. The upper end of the ring 1 may be provided with a band 11, emb 'acing the corner constituted by the ring 1 and its flange 6 for reinfm'cing the flange, and the inner side of the lower end of ring 7 may be reinfm'ced by one-half-round band '12. The lowermost ring-3 is formed with a bottom I l, and, if desired, its lower end has the usual rcinforcingband 15 secured thereto.

it is of course obvious that while the rings or annular members of which the can is composed might be jammed together with suiiicient force for some purposes to hold without other securing means such method would be entirely inadequate for cans or receptacles intended to be transported from place to place, especially over a railroad. In order, therefore, that the rings may be raised. and their joints jammed together with suiiicient force to insure against leakage and against working loose, I provide means for l forcing the rings at the extreme ends in opposite directions. This means may consist, as shown in the drawings, of a screw-threaded rod, which is preferably composed of a plurality of short sections 16 17, so that when the can is knocked down these sections may be placed inside, the sections being secured together by ordinary fishing-rod joints 18 or any other suitable way. The lowest one of the sections 17 is stepped in a suitable socket or other support 19 on the bottom 14 of the can, and in order that the bottom of the can may not be subjected to undue strain from the rod this socket 19 is secured to or formed on a spider 20, which lies on the bottom of the can and distributes the pressure to the edges. The uppermost one, 16, of the sections is screw-threaded and screwed into a nut 21, which is supported in the neck 8 in any suitable way, as by means of spider-arms 22, having their ends engaging in a corresponding number of grooved lugs 23, formed on a ring 24, soldered or otherwise secured in the neck 8, the construction being such that the spiderarms may be introduced into the neck at the points between the lugs 23 and then turned laterally until they engage in the grooves of the lugs, the grooves of the lugs being closed at one end to prevent the spider-arms 22 from rotating when the rod 16 17 is turned, which may be accomplished by the thumb-piece 25 or any other suitable means. The threaded portion of the section 16 is considerably larger than the lower end of such portion and the lower sections 17, so that such lower end and these lower sections may be passed through the nut 21 after the sections are all put together. By this means it will be seen that rotation of the screw-threaded rod in one direction will force the neck 8 and the bottom ring 3 in opposite directions, and thereby pull the telescopic rings into firm engagement with each other, producing hermetic joints and preventing the accidental collapse of the can. Still when it is desired the rod may be quickly unscrewed and its sections removed, whereby the rings 1, 2, 3, and 7 will telescope into each other and occupy a space only as high as the lowermost ring 3, and the ring or neck 8 throughout its cylindrical portion at least will descend into the ring 7, the proportion being such that the upper end of the flaring mouth 9 will be below the upper end of the ring 3.

The neck 8 is closed by the usual cap, consisting of a flaring mouth 26 and a bottom 27, which according to my invention, however, instead of being located at the lower end of the cylindrical portion 28 of the cap is arranged at the upper end of such cylindrical portion,

so as to leave room for the thumb-nut 25 without unduly elongating the neck 8 and without reducing the necessary bearing-surface of the neck 28 within the neck 8. The cap 26 is provided with a cross-bar 29, which constitutes a handle for lifting the cap out as usual, and in order that this handle may be made to serve the further usual function as a handle for lifting the knocked-down can I provide suitable means for locking the cap to the section or ring 3 when the parts are telescoped, as shown in Fig. 2. As an example of such a meansI have shown the edges of the mouth 26 of the cap provided with lugs 31 and the upper edges of the band 4: with hooks 32, into which the lugs 31 may be engaged by a rotating movement of the cap after the latter falls into position.

. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A collapsible receptacle comprising in combination a series of telescopic sections con stituted with means for preventing them from pulling apart, a nut secured in one of said sections and a screw-threaded rod screwed into said nut and stepped against another one of said sections for forcing the sections into opposite directions.

2. A collapsible receptacle comprising in combination a series of telescopic sections constituted with means for preventing them from pulling apart, one of said sections at one end of said series having a bottom, a spider detachably secured in the section at the other end of the series, a nut carried by said spider, a second spider arranged against said bottom, and a threaded rod screwed into said nut and stepped against said bottom spider.

3. A collapsible receptacle comprising in combination a series of telescopic sections constituted with means for preventing them from pulling apart and removable means located within the receptacle and centrally with respect to all of said sections and connected with the extreme sections of said series for forcing the two latter sections in opposite directions.

1. A collapsible receptacle comprising in combination a series of telescopic sections, constituted with means for preventing them from pulling apart. and a sectional screwthreaded rod having operative connection with the extreme sections of said series for forcing them in opposite directions.

CHARLES H. CORNELL.

itnesses:

F. A. HorKINs, M. B. ALLs'rApT. 

